Second Chance changes lives through training and employment. We hire, train and employ job seekers who face significant barriers to employment, including unemployment (100% of new, entry-level hires were unemployed prior to joining Second Chance); low income (100%); structural racism (85% African American and 9% Hispanic); and criminal record (52%). We equip them with the personal and professional skills necessary to change their lives and begin careers for the better.

Employment at Second Chance Changed Taiwan Hill's Life

Taiwan Hill and his daughter, attending his son's football game at Bowie State University

Taiwan was first arrested for dealing drugs in 1996.
He spent the next 15 years in a seemingly unbreakable cycle: looking for work; finding a job, only to be let go because of his record; dealing drugs on the corner in order to survive; and being sent back to prison. That is, until the (Baltimore) Mayor's Office of Employment Development connected him with Second Chance.

After successfully completing Second Chance's thorough Deconstruction Training Program, Taiwan turned his life around. He is now a Deconstruction Crew Leader who inspires respect from his coworkers and, most important, his family. "I love to come home to allow my kids to see me in my work clothes, see me being positive.  And now they see their father as a man.  And that's how I feel: I feel like a great man right now."

Supporting Second Chances 

Please consider a tax-deductible donation to nurture positive change in people like Taiwan. Here are some examples of how we'll put it to work:

• $25 will equip a warehouse worker with a safety vest
• $100 will buy a cordless drill with batteries
• $250 will outfit a deconstruction worker in a full uniform (overalls, boots, hard hat, jacket)
• $400 will buy a new power de-nailer
• $1,200 will fund professional safety training for a deconstruction worker
• Any amount would be greatly appreciated and every gift is tax-deductible!